We Are Heroes
by Nightwingess
Summary: The next generation of Young Justice includes Damian Wayne, Milagro Reyes, Ella West, Colin Wilkes, Mar'i Grayson, Luke O'Brien, Ariella Kent, Lian Harper and others are on a mission...a mission that takes a turn for the worst... Chapter 1: Surprise...


With the majority of the team unconscious, their bodies sprawled out on the floor like dolls, one could conclude the mission was a failure. The caliber of the mission they had undertaken had reached a new level, one of intergalactic proportions. And what was the mission? Originally it was to escort a princess from point A to point B, a princess of an undeveloped country with a dictator currently in power, a dictator who was spending all the country's resources on a nuclear plant, a nuclear power plant that in existence threatened numerous other countries as well as the people of the land.

The mission was simple enough, all they had to worry about at the time was assassins but with powerhouses like Mar'i, the half Tamaranian who'd acquired all her mother's powers (that of a star), Ariella, the child of a Kryptonian and a Braniac (yes almost an oxymoron by her very birth) and their leader Milagro, a green lantern, they hadn't thought anything could go terribly wrong. For the first half, things were going well. Lian and Damian were in the back. Lian, with her bow ready, kept her eyes open for any sudden movements while Damian continuously waved his stick around, twirling it like some kind of wind fan in an effort to protect the princess as well as contain is boredom from the lack of action, and Ella was at the forefront, speeding on ahead to make sure things were clear. Luke and Colin were on either side of the princess, like guards fixed on danger, prepared for a fight. Melagro, Mar'I and Ariella floated above them. It seemed as though they were completely covered at every angle, an impenetrable force, the princess couldn't be in safer hands.

Minute by minute, Milagro scanned the area with her power ring, looked for bodies lurking in the dark. Simultaneously, Mar'I would hold her hands in the same direction prepared to strike, then turn swiftly to the opposite side for a surprise attack. They had taken a quiet road in the country, it was too dangerous to take a ship out or a car, the safest venture was by foot.

Ariella, being the youngest, found herself sighing on more than one occasion, sometimes drifting lower to the ground as she grew tired of babysitting, babysitting someone who was older than she was!

"Stay on guard Ariella!" Milagro warned. They were making good time having gone five hours without the slightest indication of trouble. They only had the sleepy Ariella and the ever so angry Damian to worry about. Mar'i put both of them in their place with her starbolts, one in each of their rears. There was some screaming on Ariella's part and some homicidal remarks from Damian, but apart from that, things were going smoothly…until…

"Where the hell are you guys? I've been sitting here at the vantage point forever! I swear I ran back up the road about 20 times, you guys are so slow!" Ella was whining over the intercom; it was the first time she had spoken since her departure. Milagro hadn't thought to check up on the speedster as she was so focused on any incoming shadows.

"We should be there soon, I doubt we're more than a mile away." She could practically hear Ella pout and roll her eyes.

"We do seem to be taken longer than expected." Lian said with that careful tone of voice of hers, she was by far the most rational of the group, not surprising when the team was made up of pranksters and homicidal maniacs, save Milagro who was more on the comical side yet given her age, 26, she was far from joking around during missions where she was charged to protect life. That is why she relied so heavily on Lian, the second oldest, and the one best at adapting to situations.

"You think so?" Milagro whispered. She rose up higher into the sky to evaluate the scenery. They were on the far right of the road, hidden vaguely by trees and bushes. The sky was dark, black in fact with few stars out; it was unusual in that regard.

"Something's wrong." Milagro said aloud, although the thought was one she meant to keep to herself. She turned to look down at Colin and Luke, both of whom were hanging closely to the princess, neither showing any sign of exhaustion.

"I'll be back, Lian and Mar'i, switch places." She flew out farther to the right, then shot up into the sky. Meanwhile, Mar'i lowered herself to the ground, stepping next to Damian who was now playing with his hoodie, not taking the event very seriously. She slapped the back of his head; he let out a growl.

"Damian focus." Lian whispered as she stepped closer to princess.

"Something wrong?" The princess asked. It was the first time she had spoken since they'd met. She had little to say, she had little expression, she was terribly bland. According to the league, that was her nature for she was a great thinker with a strong sense of empathy. Some believed she was a meta-human although she would never admit it or even consider the idea lest her people fear her or hate her for her abilities and revolt against her. But those were thoughts for the future, for now, her land was not her own.

"I don't know," Lian said with her bow in the air, "But rest assured we have things under control." Always levelheaded, Lian was calm, cool and collective, a trait Colin envied of her. Every now and then he found himself feeling an eerie sense of fear with each small black bird that flew overhead; they looked like bats. After all these years, he never could get over the small figures, the rodents plagued his mind, haunted his dreams by storming into his bedroom to peck his skin all the while he cried out for help, and yet he was always alone.

"No need to worry princess, we're professionals!" Luke said with a wink, he was the most talkative of the bunch, well he at least matched this skill, or rather nuisance, with Ella.

The princess only nodded and resumed her silence. She was a girl of few words.

"So Damian-"

"It's Robin on the field Nightstar, I really don't understand why you fail to-" She smacked him again, this time with more force then before.

"Quit it you harlot!" He spat out the words.

"I thought that was your petname for Ella." Mar'i said with a similar seductive voice that Ella used on him. She could hear Ella giggle. Mar'i had a crush on the boy wonder and had expressed it before but her friendship with Ella weighed more than her feelings for the homicidal maniac. Although…she couldn't help her teasing nature.

"Focus." He said as he pointed his weapon in her direction. She shrugged her shoulders and looked ahead. Things had been quiet, relaxed, she wasn't quite sure why Milagro has seemed so worried. Still, she was the most experienced, and thus her decisions were never taken lightly, she had a purpose in all her actions, as did Lian, second in command.

Milagro was far up in the sky now, she was scanning for several minutes, looking over the trees, the grass, and the road way when she realized the scenery was repeating itself, over and over again, like an endless cycle. When she turned to fly back to the others to relay her news, she could not find them.

"Lian, how far have you gone off the path?" Milagro said; she was twisting her pigtails, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

"We're still on the path, we haven't gone very far from the point you left." Lian said coolly.

"That's impossible…I can't see you."

"WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" Ella's voice rang out into the night; she was revealing her position to anyone in the shadows. Milagro smacked her head, flying faster to try and reach the speedster at least since she had lost sight of the team.

"Shut-up!" Luke said, taking the princess' hand, she looked at him with a perplexed expression, uneasy at the touch.

"Don't tell me to shut-up play dough." Ella spat out the words as she heard the figure jumping from her left; she lowered herself and allowed her attacker to spring forward. She pressed her hand to the ground and kicked her leg up, hitting him in the face.

"We've got company!" Ella said with a deep, serious voice, much like what one hears in the movies from an action star.

"I don't see anything." Milagro said with a slight panic in her voice.

"I didn't hear it…" Lian said her bow swinging in different directions.

"It's alright, I got you princess!" Luke pulled her closer, stretching his limbs out over her in a tight embrace. Colin focused his mind to transform into his larger form, _Abuse_.

"Ella, how many are there?" Damian said. He wasn't worried for her. She had been trained by the best as he had, still…he wanted to aid her, to reach her…she was alone.

"Oh…" Ella was now in a battle against five men, each one had a distinctive robotic limb and a red eye. She lowered her back and pushed her leg forward; using her momentum she slid under one of her assailants and rose forward to punch the other.

"Ella, who are they?" Milagro said. She didn't like being out of the loop. She no longer had her team and the one member who'd she'd sent out alone seemed to be in an uneven battle.

"They look like Uncle Vic." Ella said, catching her breath as another came at her.

"They're fast!" she shouted speeding off in one direction. She swerved and used her force to smack into another; they fell back, their metallic parts scratching against the road.

"Cyborgs?" Lian said with a questioning tone. She kept her bow up, looking over at Colin who seemed a bit shaky. Colin was indeed uneasy. He could feel other beings nearby. Why, he did not know, but he was sure their world had shifted, that something about the road, the grass, the trees…

"Colin what is it?" Lian said.

"It's an illusion." Ariella, who had been quiet since Milagro's had flown out, had seen something the others could not from her view.

"What?" Mar'i quickly flew up to join her, before Ariella could answer, she saw it, the light…a red…light.

"What's going on!" Milagro shouted. She was desperate now. She could hear Damian shuffling his feet, cursing, Lian taking shots, Colin letting out his cry that came with each punch…Ariella's laser vision going off…Mar'i shooting starbolts…and…Luke…

"The princess!"

"I got her!" Luke shouted in return. He had her wrapped in his own body like a blanket, his exterior stronger than human flesh, his eyes shifty as he led the princess off to the side while the others battled on.

"Lian?" Milagro shined her light out but to no avail…

"Red lanterns!" Lian's words shook Milagro, she hadn't faced them before, an enemy of the green lantern corps…and yet she had never met one…she started waving her hands frantically, a pathetic attempt to reach her team.

"Ella!" she screamed as the speedster had gone quiet now.

"Damn it Ella, answer!" Damian screamed as he slammed his weapon into a red lantern, only to be blasted in return. Mar'i rushed to his side, blasting the lantern before helping Damian up. As she stepped down to grab his hand, a red lantern came up behind her, Damian jumped over her, slamming his elbow into the neck of the lantern and falling neatly to the ground.

"Enough!" A booming voice game over the intercom…and then…silence…

"Team…TEAM! Status!" Milagro had lost all composure, she was screaming like a mad woman, her eyes…she rubbed her eyes in hopes of catching sight of something she hadn't seen before; no luck.

"Hush Green Lantern," a voice hissed, "Your team is incapacitated and now we shall take what we came for." Whoever the voice was…he had taken the intercom of one of her teammates, a chill went up Milagro's spine. And then the voice of the princess, so clear over the intercom, the leader of the attack must have held it up to her mouth as she spoke, "I must go." The princess said frankly.

With that, the intercom was shattered; the residual static sent a shock to Milagro's system causing her to fall down into the grass…

"Screwed," Milagro whispered, "Utterly screwed."


End file.
